Guided missile ordnance system



Feb. 23, 1960 Filed March 7, 1956 R. J. PIERCE GUIDED MISSILE ORDNANCE SYSTEM 4 sheets-sheet 1 IN V EN TOR. ROG-ER J. PIERCE i Feb. 23, 1960 R. J. PIERCE 2,925,965

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ROGER J. PIERCE ATTQRNEy R. J. PIERCE GUIDED MISSILE ORDNANCE SYSTEM 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Feb. 23, 1960 Filed March 7, 1956 IIVVENTOR. ROGER J, PIERCE RN; GEN RWLL. :02 Qk Ems DUO M mNk k. -35! Qk h BY 2 z ATTORNEy Feb. 23, 1960 R. J. PIERCE 2,925,965

GUIDED MISSILE ORDNANCE SYSTEM Filed March 7, 1956 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 25 a6 ar 60 40010 MODULATOR INFRARED Oscu. LATOR GENERA ToR 86 J6 J7 J6 I I II I FIRING MODULATOR INFRARED TRIGGER DETEcToR RECEIVER GENERATOR a- JJ J9 4o 41 U DETGNA'I:0R

INVENTOR. ROGER J. PIERCE 4TToRNE nited States Patent GUIDED MISSILE ORDNANCE SYSTEM Application March 7, 1956, Serial.No.570,01

9 Claims. (Cl. 244-44) This invention relates to guided missiles, and more particularly to a novel means of arming and firing said missiles. The present ordnance philosophy of surfaceto-air missiles is based on a guided projectile which detonates a warhead in the proximity of. the target. The warhead generally has a conical fragmentation pattern extending through three hundred sixty degrees about the axis of the missile. Microwave fuzing systems sight an extremity of a target and then detonate the warhead after a predetermined depth of penetration has been reached. When the warhead explodes, only a small part of its force is used in disabling the target. The rest goes into space and is not efiective. This type of warheadfuze ordnance system might be calledta single shot device, and inherently has a low utilization factorof the explosive carried. This invention is concerned with a new philosophy of surface-to-air missile Iordnance which is more efiective than the present concept.

The present philosophy of missile ordnance is to consider the missile as a guided projectile which has but one chance of hitting the target-in other words, an elaborate anti-aircraft shell. To increase the utilization factor of the explosive carried it is felt that the missile should be armed and fired in the same fashion as a manned inter ceptor aircraft, making possible the placement of several well-directed shots at the target aircraft as the missile passes by.

In view of the complexity, size, and cost of the larger surface-to-air missiles, the latter philosophy of a gunbearing missile would be more effective againsttar'gets than the single shot system. This would mean a greater saving in the number of missiles required to shoot down a given target because of the increased probability of a kill.

The problems of mid-course guidance and terminalguidance of missiles have been reasonably well worked out in the art, and the missile can be brought quite near the target for the encounter. The remaining problem would be that of designing the gun for the missile. In view of the speed of approach and short duration of the encounter, the gun" would have to be trained, aimed, and fired in very rapid succession. In line with this gun-bearing philosophy of ground-to-air missile ordnance, the present invention features a gun-bearing missile which carries a plurality of shots, any one of which should be sutficient to disable thev target. The missile would approach the target in the usual fashion and fire as soon as the guns sight the target. As the missile passed by the target the guns would continue to fire as long as the target is in view of the gun. firing system.

It is a feature of this invention, therefore, to place a rotating disc type gun in the nose of a guided missile. Projectile cavities are equally spaced around the gun disc to provide a plurality of gun bores. On each gun cavity is mounted a small infra-red radar system with a sharp beam. Each of the radar beams rotates with the gun disc, and the individual guns are fired as their respective i a guided missile-which is armed and firedin the same radarbeams intercept the target. The guns are fired at right angles to the axis of the missile, but due to the forward velocity of the missile, the trajectory is imparted with a forward motion and, in. addition, the peripheral velocity of the openings in the gun disc causes the trajectory of the projectile to be directed by atangential motion in the direction of rotation. Therefore, each infra-red radar system has a beam orientation which effectively looks down the resulting projectile trajectory and so leads the muzzle position that the resulting trajectory makes possible a hit upon the target. j Assuming a tail chase encounter such as shown Figure 1, a first one of the rotating gun radar beams intersect's the tail of the target and immediately fires its associated gun. Since the gun carriage or disc is. ro-

tating and the missile is moving forward, the-secondgun radar beam will intersect the target a-little farther down the fuselage. sects the target a little farther down, etc., unitil all shots are fired or the missile loses sight of the target. The rotational speed of the gun disc is then set so thatit makes one revolution during the period of time required for the missile to pass by the target. chase the plurality of shots would then be spaced evenly along the fuselage of a target aircraft from tail to nose.

It is an object of this invention, therefore, to provide fashion as a manned interceptor aircraft.

It is a further object: of this invention to provide a gun bearing guided missile which has a greater probability of kill than the single shot system.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a gun bearing missile and fire control system capable. of placing several well-directed. shots at the target-aircraft as the missile passes. by. a

These and other objects of the invention will become apparent vfrom the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 shows an-elementary system of this invention in a tail chase encounter;

Figure 2 is a vectorial representation of the initial velocities imparted to the projectile at the instantof fir- I Figure 3 is a partial longitudinal view showing sections of the gun-bearing disc and control circuitry of this invention;

Figure 4 is a partial section of the gun-bearing disc through line AA on Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a functional block diagram of the radar fuzing system of this invention;

Figure 6 is a transverse cross-sectional view of the gunbearing disc.

As shown in Figure l, a guided missile 10 is provided with a rotating-disc type. gun 11 in which a plurality of openings 12 are bored. For illustration purposes the disc is shown with six guns bored into the rotating disc. Each gun is provided with a small infra-red radar system, each such system generating a narrow beam shown as '13, 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18. Assuming a clockwise rotation'of the gun-bearing disc 11, and. a forward motion of the missile 10 with respect to a-target 19, each such beam will individually intercept the target 19 and instantaneously trigger its associated gun such that a projectile 20 from each of the guns 12 is individually aimed at target ,19 by its associated radar beam.

Assuming an even tail chase as indicated in Figure 1, six shots would thus be accurately aimed and intercept target 19 at evenly spaced intervals along the target from tail to nose. V

The rotational speed of the gun disc 11 is set so that it makes one revolution as the missile passes by the target.

For example, assume a target one hundred feet in length Patented Feb. 23, 1960 The third gun radar beam inter;

In a level tail and a missile-target closure velocity of two thousand feet per second. If the missile fires six shots at the target in a space of one hundred feet at two thousand feet per second closure velocity, then shot No. 6 fires five-sixths of a revolution of the Warhead after shot No. 1. Therefore, the warhead should rotate at sixty milliseconds per revolution or one thousand r.p.m.

Optimum warhead r.p.m., assuming an even tail chase, is then seen to be dependent upon two factorsnamely, the speed of the target (which is subtracted from the missile speed to arrive at the missile-target closure velocity), and the length of the target. Warhead rotational speed might then be preset for each intercept problem in accordance with the target identification and target speed. Preferably, a gun disc r.p.m. control factor proportional to known target length (or average target length) might be preset and an additional factor proportional to missile-target closure velocity be introduced automatically by ranging radar in the missile. The control factor might additionally include angle of attack for intercept conditions other than an even tail chase.

Each gun is bored perpendicular to the axis of the missile so that projectiles are fired at right angles to the axis of the missile. However, the rotation of the gun and the forward motion of the gun impart additional initial velocity vectors to the projectiles. Thus, three factors determine the initial velocity vector of each projectile at the time of firingnamely, the muzzle velocity of the projectile, the forward carrier velocity of the missile, and a peripheral tangential velocity imparted due to rotation of the gun disc. These three mutually perpendicular velocities are shown vectorially in Figure 2.

The projectile muzzle velocity v is shown perpendicular to the longitudinal axis 21 of the rotating gun disc. The peripheral rotational velocity v is imparted tangent to the periphery of the disc 11 and in the direction of rotation of the drum. The carrier velocity v is imparted parallel to the longitudinal axis 21 of the missile at the gun opening 12 and in the direction of flight. The resultant velocity v is seen to be directed forward of the gun barrel axis X in the direction of missile flight by the angle and forward of the gun axis X in the direction of rotation by the angle at. These factors (neglecting the effects of air friction and gravity) define the trajectory of the projectile. It is thus seen that if the radar beam associated with the gun barrel 12 shown in Figure 2 were directed along the axis X of the gun barrel, i.e., along the muzzle velocity vector v the projectile would be carried forward and down so as to miss the target. However, if the radar beam is directed forward of the gun barrel axis X by the angle ,9 and ahead of the gun barrel axis X in the transverse plane of the disc 11 by angle a, the beam would, in efiect, look down the resulting projectile trajectory and thus time the firing of the gun such that resultant trajectory intercepts the target. In actual application the factors of gravity and air friction would, of course, modify these lead angles, and the optimum muzzle velocity would be determined by ordnance experts.

In Figure 2 the magnitude of the three vectors is by way of example only. The velocity vector v due to rotation of the disc would, in an actual case, be considerably smaller than those due to carrier velocity (v,,) and muzzle velocity (v As an example, assuming a fortyinch diameter disc with a rotation velocity of one thousand r.p.m., the component v would be but 173 feet per second.

A consideration of the effect of such a rotating gun on the steering of the missile due to gyroscopic reaction shows that such reaction is not appreciable. For example, assuming a three-hundred-pound gun disc of forty-inch diameter to be rotated at one thousand r.p.m., the resulting gyro reaction torque for a 5 G maneuver at two thousand feet per second velocity becomes only 109 foot pounds. If gyro reaction were, in a given application, considered to be objectionable, the warhead might be built of two counter-rotating gun discs of one hundred fifty pounds each. Such an arrangement would have no more reaction than a three hundred pound dead weight.

The radar firing system for each gun in the rotating gun disc is illustrated in block form in Figure 5. Each such system is a transmitter-receiver. Each'system transmits an infra-red beam and receives a reflected signal if the beam intercepts the target. The received signal initiates a trigger voltage for the detonator in the associated gun.

As shown in Figure 5,' the infra-red generator might be modulated with a high audio frequency and the rereceiver made selective to only that frequency. This avoids the possibility of triggering the detonator of a gun should its associated radar see the sun or a jet exhaust, for example. Thus an audio oscilllator 23 is connected to a modulator 24 which modulates an infra-red generator 25 with a high audio frequency. The signal is connected through a wire 26 to a brush 27 which completes the contact to a slip ring 28 which is rigidly mounted on the drive shaft of the rotating gun disc. Connector 29 feeds the energy to a transmitting antenna 30. As the beam from antenna 30 intersects a target a reflected portion is picked up by a receiving antenna 31 and carried through connector 32, slip ring 3-3, brush 34, and connector 35 to an infra-red receiver 36. The energy is amplified in receiver 36 and applied to a modulation detector '37 which develops an output pulse only for infrared energy received which is audio modulated at the transmitter rate. This pulse is applied to a firing trigger generator 38 which develops a trigger voltage. The resulting trigger voltage is carried through a connecto'r 39, a brush 40, a slip ring 41, and a connector 42 to the detonator 43 in the associated gun.

Details of the mechanical and electrical system are shown in Figures 3 and 6. The missile body proper might be considered to consist of a rear section 44 and a nose section 45 which are rigidly connected bya longitudinal shaft 46 along the axis of the missile. A sec- 0nd shaft 47 passes through the longitudinal axis of the rotary gun-bearing disc 11 and is rigidly attached to the disc so as to rotate with it. Shaft 47 'is thus placed coaxially about the structure supporting shaft 46 and is rotatably supported in a rear end bearing 48 and a forward end bearing 49. A disc drive motor 50 is rigidly attached to the forward portion 45 of the missile head by a bracket 51. The motor shaft 52 is rotatably received in an end bearing 53 and has a drive gear 54 mounted thereon. Drive gear 54 drives a second gear 55 mounted on gun disc shaft 47. Thus gun disc 11 and shaft 47 are rotatably supported with respect to the body of the missile.

Motor speed control 56 is connected to disc drive motor 50 to regulate the speed of rotation of gunbearing disc 11 in accordance with closure velocity and angle of attack parameters for each intercept problem.

As illustrated in Figures 3 and 6, gun disc 11 is provided with a plurality of cylindrical gun bores 12 extending radially inward from the periphery of the disc. For a six-gun application as illustrated, the gun bores are equally spaced at sixty-degree intervals. The axis of each bore is perpendicular to the drive shaft 47.

Each such gun bore 12 is armed with a projectile 20, a propellant charge 58 and a detonating fuze' 43. l mmetrically located on the periphery of the gun disc 11 about each gun bore 12 are two radar cavities59 and 60. The radar cavities are cylindrical depressions, one of which contains a radar transmitting antenna 30, and the other contains a receiving antenna 31. of the radar cavities are not parallel to the axis of the gun bores 12 due to the peripheral and forward velocities imparted to the projectile as discussed above with The axes reference to Figure 2. Therefore, as shown in Figure 6, the radar cavity axes are displaced to lead the of gun barrel 12 in the direction ofrotationof disc 11 by the angle a. Similarly, in Figure 4,'a sectional view through one such radar antenna cavity 6 0 shows the axis of the cavity to be displaced so as to lead the transverse axis of disc 11 in the direction of travel of the missile by the angle a. As previouslydiscussed, these angles a and 9 are defined from the vectors of'Figure'2 which neglect the additional effects of air friction and gravity upon the trajectory path.

Each of the six guns and its associated radar system is connected to a radar transceiver within the body of the missile through slip ring connections from rotating shaft 47 to the stationary missile housing. As illustrated in Figure 6, each gun requires three electrical. connections, two for the radar transmitting and receiving antennas 30 and 31, and a third for the trigger voltage developed by the radar to trigger the detonator 43. As. shown in Figure 6, the three connections are shown for one gun system as. 29, 32, andv 42, and are brought within .disc 11 through an access 61 in the rotary shaft 47. As b e st illustrated in Figure 3, the connections are channeled between the inner wall of shaft 37 and the outside diameter of shaft 46 to a plurality of slip rings mounted concentrically on shaft 47. A first group of three slip rings designated as 28, 33, and 41, and a firstset of stationary brushes 27, 34, and 40 connect the two an{ tennae and detonator associated with one gun 12 to a first infra-red radar receiver 62.v !In a similar fashion, the groups of antenna and detonator connections from each of the remaining five guns are brought through the spacing between shafts 46 and 47 to slip ring groups individually connected to associated radar transceivers. Slip ring 41 is shown in section to illustrate its .construc tion. The ring is formed from a disc 63 of insulating material which is slipped over shaft 47 and rigidly affixed thereto. Around the disc of insulating material is placed a metallic band 64 such as of electroformed silver. The connector 42 from the detonator 43 is brought through a hole 65 bored radially in insulating disc 63 and electrically connected to the metallic ring 64. Similarly, leads (not shown in Figure 3) from the radar antennae associated with detonator 43. are connected to slip rings 28 and 33. Similar connections are made for each of the six groups of three rings each.

It is thus seen that this invention provides a gunbearing guided missile and fire control system capable of placing several well-directed shots at a target as the missile passes by.

Although the invention has been described with respect to a particular embodiment thereof, it is not to be so limited, as changes and modifications may be made therein which are Within the full intended scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim: I

1. An ordnance system for a guided missilewherein a transverse section of the body of said missile consists of a gun-bearing member rotatable about the longitudinal axis of said missile, said gun-bearing'.member formed with a plurality of guns circumferentially disposed and with axes extending radially inward from its periphery, means for rotating said gun-bearing member at a predetermined rate with respect to said missile body, and individual radar means for controlling the firing of each of said plurality of guns.

2. An ordnance system for a guided missile wherein a transverse disc-like section of the body of said missile consists of a gun-bearing member rotatable about the longitudinal axis of said missile, said gun-bearing member formed with a plurality of guns circumferentially disposed with axes extending radially inward from its periphery, means for rotating said gun-bearing member at a predetermined rate with respect to said missile body, radar means for controlling the firing of each of said plurality of guns, said radar means consisting of a Q posed with axes extending radially inward from itspe riphery, radar means for controlling the firing of each of said plurality of guns, said radar means consisting of a plurality of infra-red tranceivers carried in s'aid' missile body, transmitting and receiving antenna means for each transceiver disposed about each of said guns, a detonator for each gun, and means connecting the antennae and detonator associated with each gun to its associated transceiver.

4. An ordnance system for a guided missile wherein a transverse disc-like section of the body of said missile consists of a gun-bearing member rotatable about the longitudinal axis of said missile, said gun-bearing member formed with a, plurality of guns circumferentially disposed with axes extending radially inward from its periphery, individual radar means for controlling the firing of each of said plurality of guns, each said radar means consisting of an infra-red transceiver carried in said missile body, transmitting and receiving antenna means for each transceiver disposed about each of said guns, a detonator for each gun, means connecting said antennae and detonator associated with each gun toits associated transceiver, each saidradar means generating a narrow beam of energy directed substantially along the axis of its associated gun and receiving reflected energy when said beam intercepts an object, and means for developing a firing impulse from said reflected energy to trigger thedetonator of the associated gun.

'5. Anordnance system for a guided, missile wherein a transverse disc-like section of the bodyof said missile consists of a gun-bearing member rotatable about the longitudinal axis of said missile, said gun-bearing member formed with. a plurality of guns circumferentially disposed with'axes extending radially inward from the periphery, radar means for controlling the firing of each of said plurality of guns, said radar means consisting of a plurality of infra-red transceivers carried in said missile body, transmitting and receiving. antenna means for each transceiver disposed about each of said guns, a detonator for each. gun, means connecting said antennae and detonator associated with each gun to its associated transceiver, each said radar means generating a narrow beam of energy directed substantially along the axis. of its associated gun, the axis of said beam adapted to be directed forward of, the radial axis of said gun-bearing section in the direction of flight of said missile by an angle with tangent. substantially defined as the ratio of missile velocity to gunmuzzle velocity and forwardof said radial axis in the directionof rotation of said gun-bearing member by an angle with tangent substantially defined as the ratio of gun muzzle velocity to peripheral rotational velocity of the gun-bearing member.

6. A guided missile including guidance and propelling means comprising a body with a forward section, a tail sec tion rigidly connected thereto, and a central section of said missile body rotatably supported between said forward I and tail sections, means for rotating said central section about the longitudinal axis of said missile body, a plurality of gun bores disposed about the circumference of said rotating section and extending radially inward therefrom, each said gun bore housing a detonator, a propellant charge, and a projectile, a pair of cavities adjacent each of said gun bores, a radar transmitting antenna recessed in the first of said cavities and a receiving antenna recessed in the second of said cavities, a plurality of radar transceivers housed in a non-rotating portion of said missile body, each of said transceivers supplying energy to its transmitting antenna and receiving energy reflected from an object to its associated receiving antenna, electrical connecting means between each of said radar transceivers and its associated antenna pair, each of said transceivers converting said received energy to a trigger pulse, and means connecting said trigger pulse to the detonator of a certain one of said plurality of gun bores.

7. A guided missile including guidance and propelling means comprising a body with a forward section, a tail section rigidly connected thereto, and a central section of said missile body rotatably supported between said forward and tail sections, means for rotating said central section about the longitudinal axis of said missile body, a plurality of gun bores symmetrically disposed about the circumference of said rotating section and extending radially inward therefrom, each said gun bore housing a detonator, a propellant charge, and a projectile, a pair of cavities adjacent each of said gun bores, a radar transmitting antenna recessed in the first of said cavities and a receiving antenna recessed in the second of said cavities, the axes of said cavities directed forward of the radial axes of said gun bores in the direction of flight of said missile by an angle with tangent substantially defined as the ratio of missile velocity to gun muzzle velocity and forward of said radial axes in the direction of rotation of said gun bores by an angle with tangent substantially defined as the ratio of gun muzzle velocity to the peripheral rotational velocity of said gun bores, a plurality of infra-red radar transceivers housed in a non-rotating portion of said missile body, each of said transceivers supplying energy to its transmitting antenna and receiving energy reflected from an object to its receiving antenna, electrical connecting means between each of said radar transceivers and its associated antenna pair, each of said radar transceivers converting said received energy to a trigger pulse, and means connecting said trigger pulse to the detonator of a certain one of said plurality of gun bores.

8. A guided missile including guidance and propelling means comprising a body with a forward section, a tail section rigidly connected thereto, and a central section of said missile body rotatably supported between said forward and tail sections, means for rotating said central section about the longitudinal axis of said missile body, a plurality of gun bores displaced about the circumference of said rotating section and extending radially inward therefrom, each said gun bore housing a detonator, a propellant charge, and a projectile, a pair of cavities adjacent each of said gun bores, a radar transmitting antenna recessed in the first of said cavities and a re ceiving antenna recessed in the second of said cavities, the axes of said cavities directed forward of the radial axes of said gun bores in the direction of flight of said missile by an angle with tangent substantially defined as the ratio of missile velocity to gun muzzle velocity and forward of said radial axes in the direction of rotation of said gun bores by an angle with tangent substantially defined as the ratio of gun muzzle velocity to the peripheral rotational velocity of said gun bores, a plurality of infra-red radar transceivers housed in a nonrotating portion of said missile body, each of said transceivers supplyingenergy'to its transmitting antenna and receiving energy reflected fronr an object to its receiving antenna, electrical connecting means between each of said radar transceivers and its associated antenna pair, each said, transceiver including means for modulating said energy t supplied to said transmitting antenna and demodulating means responsive only to received energy correspondingly modulated, each of said radar receivers converting said received energy to a trigger pulse, and means connecting said trigger pulse to the detonator of a certain one of said plurality of gun bores.

9. A guided missile including guidance and propelling means comprising a body with a forward section, a tail section rigidly connected thereto, and a central section of said missile body rotatably supported between said forward and tail sections, means for rotating said central section about the longitudinal axis of said missile body, a plurality of .gun bores displaced about the circumference of said rotating section and extending radially inward therefrom, each said gun bore housing a detonator, a propellant charge, and a projectile, a pair of cavities adjacent each of said gun bores, a radar transmitting antenna recessed in the first of said cavities and a receiving antenna recessed in the second of said cavities, the axes of said cavities directed forward of the radial axes of said gun bores in the direction of flight of said missile by an angle with tangent substantially defined as the ratio of missile velocity to gun muzzle velocity and forward of said radial axes in the direction of rotation of said gun bores by an angle with tangent substantially defined as the ratio of gun muzzle velocity to the peripheral rotational velocity of said gun bores, a plurality of infra-red radar transceivershoused in a non-rotating portion of said missile body, each of said transceivers supplying energy to its transmitting antenna and receiving energy reflected from an object to its receiving antenna, electrical connecting means between each of said radar transceivers and its associated antenna pair, each of said transceivers including means for modulating said energy supplied to their transmitting antennae and demodulating means responsive only to received energy correspondingly modulated, each of said radar transceivers converting received energy to a trigger pulse, means connecting said trigger pulse to the detonator of a certain one of said plurality of gun bores, and means controlling the rotational speed of said center section of said missile as a function of missile-target closure velocity and angle of attack whereby said rotating section makes one revolution as said missile passes by a target.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,284,149 Saladiner Nov. 5, 1918 2,264,906 Roby Dec. 2, 1951 2,513,279 Bradley July 4, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 192,002 Germany Oct. 22, 1907 

